Michelle Memran, filmmaker and Dasha Amsterdam Epstein, in conversation with Gabri Christa, moderated by Alice Reagan

Cuban-American playwright Maria Irene Fornes (1930-2018) created astonishing worlds onstage. When she stopped writing due to dementia, a friendship with a young writer and filmmaker Michelle Memran (Dasha Amsterdam Epstein Visiting Artist in Theatre, Barnard College) reignited her visionary creative spirit, triggering a film collaboration that picked up where the pen left off.

The film is experimental in its storytelling, exploring the filmmaker and subject’s artistic exchange, mutual influence, and the co-constitution of story and memory. At the heart of this film, we see a dedication to a life and cultural legacy, and a friendship. 

personal note Gabri Christa: As both a filmmaker currently creating work around dementia, as well as an Atlantic Fellow in Global Brain Health, I’m supporting other works that help reduce stigma around dementia.